It's V-Day--Give yourself some BODY love!

While the culmination of many wake-up calls brought me here--committed to change my body--the impact of one repeats itself in my mind almost daily. I rarely ever (okay, never!) opened up to my friends about my internal struggles with weight and my body issues. In fact, most people who know me have said at one point or another, "When are you not happy?" But one night about 6 months ago, I was hanging out with a friend and feeling too deflated to put on my little-miss-sunshine routine: I actually told her I didn't deserve to be happy because I was overweight. She looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "If you have an overweight daughter one day, is that how you're going to treat her?"

I'd never thought of my verbal self-abuse that way before. I sat on her couch and cried for the little girl inside me who I'd been punishing for her imperfections for all these years. Since then, believing in the center of myself that I'm worthy of happiness has made all the difference. To be clear: That doesn't mean I stopped desiring a better figure. I still want it just as badly. But embracing my body as it is actually makes it easier to get there. Now, instead of my body being the enemy and something I'm working against, it's my ally--getting stronger every day and working with me to get to a healthier, happier place. What's the saying, "Make your wound your way into the world"?

Did any of you also feel like you first had to come to terms with your body before you could start to change it?